


Oh, and they come unstuck

by yesshirbert



Series: Shirbert Drabbles [1]
Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery, Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Drabble, F/M, Fluff, Multi, Spin the Bottle
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-26
Updated: 2017-07-19
Packaged: 2018-11-19 11:11:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11312172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yesshirbert/pseuds/yesshirbert
Summary: A series of Anne x Gilbert drabbles from prompts I receive on tumblr. They might connect into a bigger story, they might not, but they should still be a fun read.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: Modern-Day AU, “We haven’t seen each other in a while and now things are weird.”

 

 

 

 

> Modern Day Shirbert AU

Anne hadn’t planned on leaving her room for the rest of her Sunday afternoon if not for her dear friend Diana's persistence.

“Oh Anne, it’s just a close group of friends from school. It won’t be fun without my best friend!” Diana exclaimed for the fourth time, barely audible to Anne due to both being on speaker.

Anne had already begun to sort through her closet for an outfit to wear, but Diana didn’t need to know how easily she had caved to her invitation, especially since Anne had declared she needed time off from interacting with human beings after having started working as a cashier at their local diner on weekends. She had always described herself as a people person, but customer service was seriously pushing her limits.

Anne knew it wasn’t Diana’s fault that she didn’t always enjoy her job and so she didn’t see how she could get out of going without feeling awfully guilty about it afterwards. However, Anne was still plenty unenthused; none of her nice-looking clothes were washed and was only left with a pair of black leggings and an extremely plain-looking discolored pink tee.

“I have nothing nice to wear. My favorite sundress was ruined, as you might recall, by Billy Andrews last week during Art class and my daisy romper is dirty–”

“You have other clothes, Anne.”

Anne violently dressed herself in what looked like her gym clothes from last year and checked the time, “What time did you tell people to be at your place?”

“At seven!” Diana all but screamed from her bathroom, the roaring from her blow dryer obstructing her friend’s voice.  

It was already six forty-five, she groaned into her iPhone’s speaker, as to let Diana know how much she was inconveniencing her.

Everyone knows how Anne loathes making last minute plans with anyone except Diana. They had been best-friends since middle school and she was mostly Anne’s only friend for the first months after she had moved into town. It was hard for her to become familiar with the children in such a small and close-knit town, where everyone knew each other since forever, but Diana seemed to be one of the few people who hadn’t already written Anne off as a problem child for her history in the foster system. Also, they being neighbors didn’t hurt their prospects of becoming fast friends, as they only lived a short ten minute walk from each other.

It had always been very easy for Anne to connect with Diana, they were akin to soulmates for a reason…But it was still tough for Anne to become comfortable with everyone else.

“So, who else is going?” Anne questioned, then applying a copious amount of dry-shampoo to her slightly curled hair in front of her mirror, deciding to forgo foundation and opted for some mascara instead, “I have second day hair; bun or braids?”

“Just do a messy bun! Either way you’ll look lovely. As always,” Diana stated, “And I know Ruby, Josie, Charlie, Moody, and Billy will for sure be here.”

Anne carelessly snapped her hair-tie too hard onto her scalp at the mention of Billy Andrews, “Why would you invite such a horrendous bully, who destroyed my favorite outfit on purpose and is a dreadful human—“

“Anne, calm down! He just invited himself and my mom told me I had to let him come. It won’t be so bad. I’ll keep him away if he tries anything,” Diana promised, which took a load off of Anne, “Oh and Gil might come but—“

“Oh, I see what this is Diana and I’ll have you know right now that—“

“I couldn’t not invite him, Anne! It would be terribly rude not to,” Diana reasoned and Anne couldn’t summon words to refute her, “Besides, we are not little kids anymore. I thought you two had worked it out?”

It was true that Gilbert and Anne were no longer vicious enemies and much of their rivalry had placated over the years. Even so, Anne had become privy to the intentions of her girlfriends to set her up with him after Ruby had moved onto another boy to focus her energies on, and that never failed to make her uncomfortable. Gilbert was smart, funny, and very cute, but it wasn’t that simple. Awful things had been said and done, mostly on Anne’s part towards Gilbert, and that all had left blemishes on their friendship. There was also the fact that she hadn’t seen him for almost an entire year due to him moving in with some friends of the family after his father’s death. They were on speaking terms throughout, but had slowly drifted.

Anne tried to explain her hesitation out loud, even though she barely understood it herself.  

Diana must’ve sensed Anne’s sudden brooding silence as she said, “You two didn’t drift away, more like you pushed him away. I promise no one is planning anything. We know that you’re not interested. Besides, he might not even come!”

Anne was still plenty skeptical towards their intentions, but she mock relented, as though she hadn’t already made up her mind to go anyway.

Just to amp up the suspense, as Anne loved to do in nearly every situation, she took her time in pulling up her text messages with Gilbert on her phone. They sparsely talked over the phone or texted anymore, not since they both started working, but Anne knew it had more to do with Gilbert’s own desires to distance himself from the girl who couldn’t even bum a ride for just one short hour from her friends to visit him with them.

Mostly the texts consisted of random “how’s your summer going?” and “what have you been up to” with none of them leading anywhere other than awkward tangents concluded by a string of “Anyways.”  She missed the times they had Facetimed during his trip across Europe after his father’s death, but Gilbert had suddenly stopped calling her and Anne took it as a sign that he was having fun with newfound friends.

She types a new message, taking notice to the timestamp from their previous conversation, it had been more than a month…

Anne: “Hey Gilbert, sorry again for being the world’s worst texter haha I heard you’re finally back in town. I hope you can make it to Diana’s get together tonight :)

If she had bothered to read over her words before quickly sending it out, surely she would’ve rationalized against it, but she figured the text should alleviate some of the awkward tension between them if he were to attend.  

“Alright! I’ll be there in ten minutes,” Anne said once she was satisfied with her bun and decided on a thin layer of pink lip-gloss.

 “I love you, Anne Shirley!”

“As I do you, Diana Barry!”

\--------—---------------------—------------

“Honey, I’m home!” Anne called as she stepped into Diana’s home, quickly removing her sneakers at the entrance.

“Oh how _lovely_ darling,” another voice responded, which certainly did not belong to Diana. Anne’s once present optimism for the events of the night speedily evaporated as she frowned at Billy Andrews, “You look nice…not” Anne knew she didn’t look her best, but she would be damned if she cared what the insufferable jerk thought.

Billy was casually sprawled across the sofa in the living room with Moody at his side, “You here to help Diana in the kitchen? We are starving over here,” he screamed towards where Diana was presumably preparing some finger food.

“Be careful what you wish for Billy Andrews,” Anne said sullenly, offering a little wink in Moody’s direction, who laughed while playfully striking Billy in the ribs.

“What do you mean by that?” Billy asked, his frown hardening further. Confused by Moody’s teasing, “Seriously, what?”

“You better watch out dude,” was Moody’s only statement, he was clearly enjoying himself, while Billy finally put the pieces together as his own frown materialized in place of his galling smirk.

With that, the doorbell rang and Anne turned to get it for Diana, who was apparently too engrossed on doing whatever it was she was doing to be bothered herself.

Once Billy saw that Anne didn’t appear to be joking, “Diana, don’t let Anne anywhere near my food!”   

Anne opened the door to see Josie, Ruby, and Charlie on the other side, all huddled together against the evening chill.

“Anne, you came!” Ruby exclaimed with a huge smile on her sweet face, hugging Anne as she came in.

“I thought you worked on Sundays.” Josie said, her face scrunched up in indifference, seemingly disappointed by Anne’s presence.

Anne forced a polite smile, “Yes, but only in the morning,” she said, nodding towards Charlie who had waved at her as he circled towards the other boys in the living room. Josie, however, simply walked on past Anne without a care in the world, her lips in a straight line, “Good to see you too, Josie.”

“Don’t mind her, Anne. Let’s go find Diana.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The rest of the evening progressed as well as could be expected, Josie Pyre and Billy Andrews had seemingly paired off to gossip about how weird Anne was, Moody and Charlie had a taco eating competition, which Anne enthusiastically joined in on (Billy Andrews called Anne fat for doing so, but she couldn’t care less), while Diana and Ruby talked about the latter’s latest crush.  Everything had been surprisingly tranquil and tame, considering neither of Diana’s parents were present to supervise due to work and neither was her sister there to later snitch on any arising scandalous activity.

As Anne laid on her back on the floor of Diana’s living room along with Charlie and Moody, never had she been as full as she was at that moment, she realized how glad she was for deciding on attending the party. Billy Andrews only bothered to torment Anne a handful of times, thanks to Diana for screaming at him whenever he tried anything, and Josie Pyre mostly gossiped about things that were unrelated to Anne.

But Gilbert never texted Anne back. She stared at their messages, holding her phone over her face, she hid what she was staring at by pretending to play a game, when really she didn’t want people to know how much it bothered her to have not heard from him. Perhaps, Gilbert decided not to attend because he read her message and didn’t want to see her. Anne couldn’t fault him for that, not when she knew for a fact that she hadn’t always been a good friend to him. Mostly she was awkward and unsociable around him, words either never materialized or materialized too quickly for her to regulate them or her emotions, which led to either her avoiding his gaze or being locked into his hazel eyes for longer than appropriate or her eyes wandered…All in all, time seemed to move either too fast or too slow when they were together. And Anne didn’t know if she wanted her moments with Gilbert to end or last forever.

 _You know what Anne, he’s not coming and you’re going to have to relax._   

Then, the doorbell rang, causing her to almost drop her phone on her face.  

“It’s nine already, who’s here so late?” Ruby asked, outwardly transfixed on perfecting Diana’s braid as she wouldn’t let her get up to get the door.

“You’re pretty lame if you think nine o’clock is late,” Billy said, although still engrossed by whatever he was watching on his phone to grace them with his mean stare.

Moody leapt from the ground, unbothered by the ridiculous amount of tacos he had eaten, “Gilbert’s here!”

Everyone in the room perked up, matching Moody’s gleeful smile with their own, everyone except Anne. She turned toward Diana and mouthed if she knew, to which she simply shook her head erratically, too excited about Gilbert to mind Anne.

Moody ran to the door and surely enough it was Gilbert standing on the other side, his countenance damp from the rain, accompanied by a gorgeous half-dozen yellow roses in his hand, “Gil, you shouldn’t have,” Moody said, jokingly reaching for them himself, but Gilbert only laughed and intercepted him with a quick handshake and a pat on the back.

“Actually, these are for Diana,” Anne’s friend practically tripped over her laying form to get to the door. Her cheeks were flushed a pretty pink color as she accepted the flowers and hugged Gilbert, “Thanks for having me over and sorry for missing your birthday.”

“Don’t worry about that, you couldn’t help it. These are beautiful Gilbert, I’m going to put them in a vase right away,” Diana kicked Anne on her way to the kitchen, “Want to help me?”

Gilbert’s eyes descended towards a gasping Anne and she caught him smiling at her, “Hey Anne.”

Throughout the course of a year, Gilbert had managed to grow even taller, if comparing him to Diana was any indication. His pleasant dark curls had become unruly in this time, which to Anne’s annoyance, had not lessened his innate charm. As soon as she caught his little smile, she knew he hadn’t changed much at all, indicative of how she failed to change as well; she was still damningly susceptible to his charms.   

She sat up and immediately regretted the tacos as her stomach protested, “Hi Gilbert,” she nodded towards Diana, “I’m currently dying and can’t seem to get up.”

“That’s what your fat-ass gets for eating twelve tacos in a row,” Billy said, still engrossed in his phone to spare her a glance, “I counted so don’t you try and deny it.”

Everyone laughed, except Diana who glared at Billy and Gilbert who took it upon himself to hover over Anne, “Need a hand?”

Anne considered attempting to get up by herself again, but surely she would end up face planting, or worse, hurling in front of everyone. So she extended her arm, trying her best not to make eye contact with Gilbert, “Yes, thank you.”   

Gilbert’s hand wrapped around hers, while his other secured her elbow to help her balance as he swiftly lifted her and Anne knew for a fact that he had grown to be much taller than her, “Twelve tacos, huh? I’m impressed,” he mused, failing to release Anne from his hold, surprising her with a cheeky wink, “Next time wait for me? Wouldn’t want Anne Shirley to go unchallenged.”

"You say now that you would've liked to be here, but it was the most frightening experience to watch how Anne monstrously shoveled all that food down her throat without even breathing," Charlie added, burping rather loudly. 

Anne glances up towards Gilbert soon enough to catch him actually stifling a laugh, however, he seemed unfazed by everyone’s giggles and hollering in the room, well Diana had sneakily scurried away to attend to the flowers, but Anne knew she must be delighted by simply hearing this conversation.   

“I couldn’t possibly let them have all the fun now could I,” Anne cleared her throat, attempting to ignore the tingling sensation on her arm, “How do you know I’m the one to challenge?”

He gestured toward Charlie and Moody, who had ridiculously wide grins on their faces, “Well, they don’t seem to be as pained as you are right now, so my guess is that you won,” Gilbert laughed, finally releasing her.

“I’m pretty sure Anne ate your share of the food, Gilbert. I hope you’re not too hungry,” Diana called from the next room. Anne immediately flushed further.

"actually, she wolfed down my food too," Billy leered. 

“I’ve already eaten, but thanks anyway,” Gilbert replied, offering Anne a reassuring smile, “I’m glad my food went to the good use of putting these boys to shame, though.”

“I wouldn’t have if I thought you were coming. You never answered my text so I just assumed,” said Anne, reflexively taking her phone from her pocket.

“Oh, my phone is dead,” Gilbert explained and was about to continue if not for Charlie tackling him from behind.

“We’ve missed you, Gilbert!” Charlie said, hugging his best-friend from behind, prompting everyone to circle both Anne and him into a cocoon, except Billy that is, who was eventually pulled into the fray by Moody against his will.

Anne found herself being crushed into Gilbert’s side, so much so that her own clothes soaked through from his own, but as soon as Diana joined in on the embrace, Anne felt herself relax against them. Even when Gilbert’s arm had settled around her waist, Anne didn’t flinch or pull herself away, primarily because Diana wouldn’t let her, but that didn’t explain why Anne reciprocated by wrapping her arms around Gilbert, settling into the crook of shoulder.

Inexplicably, in that moment, Anne was equally as terrified as she was elated. 

Raising her head to gaze upon Gilbert, she found delight in the presence of the widest grin she'd ever seen on him and in the pleasant sensation of his laughter vibrating through her own core. His hands had slipped further up her waist, effectively tickling her and Anne grinned so widely now, her cheeks hurt. 

"I've missed you," she breathed, sinking her head back into his chest. Things didn't have to go back to way they had been before, they didn't have to make the same mistakes, but he needed to know how much he really meant to her. Gilbert strengthened his hold on Anne and she felt the faintest pressure of his warm lips against her forehead. 

Gilbert's breath on her skin sent tingles of energy through her and despite being enveloped by her slew of friends, the only solid being she could concentrate on was him as he whispered, "I've missed you, too." 


	2. Spin the Bottle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Anne and Gilbert playing spin the bottle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took the liberty of having the prompts exist in the same AU :)

“Okay, I’m officially going to blow my brains out if we don’t do something _sane_ for once, instead of killing ourselves with eating contests,” Billy Andrews announces to the group, confidently strutting into the basement where we were all situated. I speedily informed him of our game of Uno, which he shrugged to, bringing my attention to the shiny bottle of Coca-Cola in his hand. Josie Pyre followed suit behind him, she wore a teasing smirk when she plopped down next to Gilbert at my side, and she surely was a part of the flawed inception of this plan.

Diana interjected, “Oh come on, we aren’t little kids anymore guys.”

“Seriously? Do you have a better idea?” Josie jeered, handing Diana the bottle, as if bestowing her the honor of being the first to spin. Diana sent it back towards Billy’s direction across from her, “You’re such a—“

“If we’re going to play, we should let people decide if they’d rather sit it out,” Gilbert proposed, seemingly ready to play along with Billy and Josie’s dull foolery.

Diana immediately removed herself from the group and Anne was tempted to follow, but after having experiencing the rush from beating the boys at the eating contest, she wasn’t about to step down from this challenge. However, she was unclear about exactly how to win at spin the bottle, just don’t turn anyone down?

Charlie, Moody, and Ruby all nudged their way into the circle, effectively ready to play.

 Anne felt Gilbert playfully nudge her side with his arm, he was smiling at her and motioned for Anne to check her phone.

Under the text she had sent him was a smiley face emoji from him, to which she rolled her eyes and tried to conceal her blush.

Anne: _“You’re going down :P”_

She sent, biting her lip in anticipation to Gilbert’s response. He laughed at his screen, the corners of his eyes crinkling in their boyish way and instead of texting her, Gilbert leaned down to whisper, “How does one win at this sort of game?”

Anne only shrugged, senselessly beaming back at her friend, but Ruby attempting to hide behind her phone distracted her from him. Especially since she appeared to be taking a picture of her and Gilbert.

“What was that?” She asked a pink cheeked Ruby, her eyes wide in feigned innocence, “Delete that!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she said, hiding her phone under her thigh, giggling to herself beside an unimpressed Billy.

“You little!” Anne glared at Ruby and was now crawling across the circle to tackle the phone away herself, when she felt Gilbert’s hands on her shoulders, pulling her back towards her seat, “Let me go this instant, Gilbert Blythe!” Anne cried heatedly over her shoulder.  

“Yeah, show her whose boss Gilbert!” Anne was positively fuming now, struggling against her captor in the direction of Billy Andrews. Gilbert said something about how Billy deserves whatever is coming for him and released Anne.

Billy immediately jumped from his seat, covering his face with his forearm, but Anne couldn’t bring herself to dignify his little spat.

“I won't smack the sense back into you if you accept a dare,” Anne offered, hearing the rest of the room snickering. Billy slowly lowered his arms and showed his face once more, “I dare you to kiss the boy of your choosing.”

All the blood from Billy’s face drained away before their eyes as the look of utmost terror arose to his once blank expression, “But the boys don’t have to kiss each other!”

“I don’t remember that being a part of the rules…” Anne said, fueled by Diana’s incessant laughter, “Gilbert, you can attest to the ferocity of my hand, what would you advice Billy to do?”

Anne turned to Gilbert, whose cheeks were a pleasant pale pink color, a permanent grin on his face. His eyes were on hers, but they were reflective, conjuring his memories from that infamous slap, “I would without a doubt take the bet.”   

Billy took a few seconds while Anne went back to her seat, trying to control her own giggles from bubbling up to the surface, it didn’t help that the whole room were beside themselves just from observing Billy urgently evaluate his male peers.

“Fuck,” Billy groaned, while taking his time crawling in Gilbert’s direction, insuring the hollering from the group, “Buddy, I’m sorry,” Billy pleaded before crushing his lips onto Gilbert’s, who had no time to react before Billy secured his head into place within his hands.

Anne was aghast along with the rest of the group, who had grown quiet in utter surprise, watching Gilbert reciprocate the kiss. The girls were flushed a scandalous red color and even Moody had to advert his eyes, but Charlie seemed to be more entertained than anything. In a matter of two seconds, the shock had dissipated with calls of “get it Gilbert and Billy!” Even Anne joined the chorus along with Diana, she honestly hadn’t expected Billy to actually follow through, but this was better than anything she could’ve imagined.

This was the stuff of legends to be immortalized for generations to come and if their friend group ended up growing old together, their children would undoubtedly be sharing in this most bizarre occurrence.     

Long after the two boys had separated from their embrace, no one could bare look them in the eye, not since they caught Gilbert sending a very much flustered Billy a pert wink as soon as Billy regained his composure, effectively triggering him back into a fit of flipping Gilbert off.

“You know we’ll never let you two live this down, right?” Moody said, bumping Billy on his shoulder.

“Totally fine with me,” Gilbert replied, clearly proud of himself and incredibly sure of his own masculinity, enough to be so carefree, “I think I’d consider myself the winner,” he said to Anne now, who shook her head,  astounded by Gilbert’s attitude.

“Yeah, that was the best kiss you’ve ever had. Right, Blythe?” Billy said, easing into the lighthearted atmosphere in the room. Gilbert’s only reply was to teasingly pucker his lips back at Billy, “I’m sure that was to your satisfaction, Anne.”

“Oh yes…Well, it’s getting late,” Anne sighed, rubbing tears of laughter from her eyes, reminded of how Marilla would have her neck if she didn’t return by her curfew.

Gilbert, Ruby, and Diana stood with Anne to accompany her to the door and the rest waved their goodbyes.

Ruby playfully nudged Gilbert and Anne together, “Why don’t you be a gentleman walk Anne home, Gilbert?”  

Anne narrowed her eyes, “Why don’t you mind your business and hand over your pho—“

“Actually, I was just going to offer,” Gilbert interrupted, reaching for his red coat, “It’s dark out and it’s no trouble.”

“Perfect!” Diana exclaimed, hugging Anne on her way out the door, “I know no reasons why Anne should have to walk on her own.”

Anne thought of a few reasons why to deny his company: Diana appears to have selective memory when it comes to the multiple instances in which Anne had already walked home on her own in the dark before, it wasn’t fair for Gilbert to have to walk back alone, no one else was offering to accompany them, what if something happened on his way back, what if they receded back into their old ways of uncomfortable silences and misinterpreted words?

In the end, Gilbert’s expectantly hopeful gaze deterred any further objections on Anne’s part, “Okay… but I’m racing you there!”

TBC  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Remember to bookmark, leave kudos, and or a comment! :)
> 
> I know, I know... it got weird, but it often does when playing spin the bottle hehe


	3. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anne and Gilbert share some time under the stars and some confessions are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update!

“Anne, slow down!”

Her heavy breathing drowned out Gilbert’s cries from a few yards behind her. Anne’s thighs burned, accompanied by increasing cramps along her sides, maintained with every _splat_ of her sneakers on wet pavement. For as long as she could remember, Anne had always loved to run, it was thrilling and challenging for her, but also something that had always remained constant.

During her early years, moving from foster home to foster home, she had been lucky enough to have some liberty (mostly due to the fact that her foster parents couldn’t care less about her whereabouts) to leave on runs whenever she felts the walls closing around her. Mostly, she dreamed of never returning to the torture she was forced to submit to. Nothing beats running in the middle of the night when there aren’t people or cars out to obstruct her path or her imagination. Soon enough, her muscles usually begin to relax and her breathing evens out, her vision clears out but it is of no importance because she imagines entire worlds in her mind.

But not this time.

Anne felt the dozen tacos she had eaten start to come up again, she could taste them on the peak of her throat, and so she finally slowed down to a slow jog and collapsed onto the misty grass next to a bench alongside a little kid’s park halfway to her house.

“Are you okay?” Gilbert wheezed, as he knelt down beside her, his hand on her shoulder. Anne didn’t mean to pull away, but she instinctively raised her forearm to shield her eyes from the light rain, “Anne?”

She turned to look at Gilbert again, whose face had flushed from him attempting to race her and his brows were scrunched together in concern for her, “I’m good. I totally won and I feel like I’m dying here, but I’m good.”

Gilbert laughed and shook his head at her in amusement, “Fine, whatever you say, but you got a head start back there,” Anne stuck her tongue out to which Gilbert grinned, “You’re head is going to get soaking wet. Sit up real quick,” he said as he removed his jacket, leaving him with a dark short-sleeved shirt similar to her own pink one. He spread out his jacket under her head, leaving enough length for him to join her, “You should probably let your dinner rest properly before we head out again and definitely no running this time.”

Anne simply nodded her agreement, too occupied with the stars above her to move, but she did take notice of him sprawling out alongside her. They were far enough from each other as to not brush shoulders, but Anne could feel the heat radiating from him.

The night was beautiful, the skies were wide and vast and infinite enough to get lost in their impenetrability. Typically, all of her thoughts would slip away along with the stars, but tonight her thoughts fly a thousand miles per minute, too fast to placate. Most of them being centered on Gilbert and how if only she could shift a bit to her left, they would be touching shoulders under the stars, random light raindrops caressing their faces; in other words, the perfect backdrop for a romantic film or novel. Anne had a vast experience with both mediums, but none in real-life practice, which never seemed to bother her.  

If only either of them could say anything. Anne didn’t know if she wanted him to break the careful silence or if she only wanted to bask in his presence. A small stolen moment amongst the chaos of their young lives. And though the drizzle continued to dampen their youthful faces and showed no signs of breaking, they continued to stare into the infinite galaxy before them as if they had reached some higher form of understanding, even if just for a moment.

Anne felt her companion’s stare as he slowly turned towards her, covering his profile with his slender hand.

“I can tell you're thinking about something Anne Shirley,” Gilbert said, flashing her what she could only discern was a smile from her periphery.

She turned her head to face his, and she considered telling him about how she thought the night and the stars were beautiful and that their beauty could only be compared to his own Raven locks and bright eyes, but she bit them back. Instead, she made a mental note to remember to write her sentiments into her journal instead or attempt to draw him as she saw him now because she wanted to remember this moment forever.

_God Anne, he’s back for a couple of hours and you’re already swooning._

Anne returns Gilbert’s fading smile and panics, “I can’t seem to stop thinking about your kiss with Billy,” she giggles, conjuring the memory in earnest. To be honest, it had lingered in her thoughts for some time after the event and she hid her face in her hands once she saw Gilbert’s creeping blush against his almost translucent skin.

“Oh that? That’s nothing really,” Gilbert said, shrugging his shoulders and turning his face towards the stars again, “I started dating a guy while I was in Europe and Billy’s kiss was definitely _not_ other worldly.”

_So he didn’t stop texting her because he had made a million new friends…just a boyfriend._

“Really? So you don’t frequently lock lips with assholes?” Anne teased, genuinely taken aback by Gilbert’s sudden shyness at his admission. She saw him swallow a lump in his throat and was tempted to somehow retract her words, but she was more than a little curious.

Her companion seemed to be a deep trance for a few seconds before he grinned back towards her, droplets of rain falling from his lashes, catching the light from the stars, “I try to avoid kissing assholes on principle…Thanks for that Anne,” he said, bumping his shoulder into hers playfully.

“I didn’t know he was going to choose you! I was surprised to see he didn’t seem to mind all that much,” she poked, watching Gilbert make a face at her.

Anne suddenly sat up, taking a double take on her suffering stomach, then she turned to stare down at him, “Does Charlie know? Now that I recall, he was the only person there who wasn’t completely freaking out.”

Gilbert laughed, nodding his head, confirming her suspicion, “He figured it out actually. One day he just sort of knew.”

“You could’ve told me. Instead of—“

“I’m sorry if it seemed as though I was avoiding talking to you. That wasn’t my intention,” Gilbert sits up now, crossing his legs and turning to face her. His face was…open. His eyes were clear in their remembrance of his months away. Anne wanted to tell him not to worry about her feelings, not to worry about what she might be thinking about him, but no words escaped her. The way Gilbert was looking at her without actually _seeing_ her, clued her into the idea that maybe she should only let him unburden himself from whatever he needed to say.

Gilbert took the time to breathe before continuing, “I just needed to explore a different aspect of myself, without being constantly reminded of home and who I was before. I always knew about being different, but I never really paid any attention to it. I always dismissed it. It doesn’t make much sense, I know, but that’s how I felt after---everything. I needed to go away and detach myself. It sometimes still feels as though a part of me died along with my father.”

Anne couldn’t do anything but continue to sit on Gilbert’s dampening jacket under the stars, watching him wipe away newly formed tears from his eyes before they fell and joined themselves to the rain.

And so Anne simply placed her shaking hand on top of his own still one, imagining what it would be like to interlace their fingers, to embrace him now. However, Gilbert appeared as though he might not be ready for that just yet, not after pouring whatever he felt necessary of him out for Anne to inspect. She hoped he didn’t expect for her to offer him any words of wisdom, as she couldn’t possibly invoke such mind space to do so. Her gentle touch would have to be enough, “Thank you, for sharing this with me Gilbert.”

He gently blinked away any remaining tears and gently removed his hand from beneath hers, then he stood up and offered his help for her to stand. Anne took his hand for the second time that night and let herself be lifted towards him, but once she joined him, Gilbert failed in releasing her from his grip.

“I should be thanking you for letting me vent. I should’ve told you sooner,” he said, his hazel eyes entrancing her with their intensity and wholesome honesty, releasing her only to gather his coat from the ground as an afterthought.

“Don’t worry about that, but you’re to have to tell me about your boyfriend sometime. Unless you two are still—never mind,” Anne struggled, catching herself hoping for Gilbert to confirm or deny her pressing enquiry for his relationship status. Not that she particularly cared either way, they’re just friends at this point anyway…

_You kind of care._

“It wasn’t a serious relationship, we mutually decided we were better off not trying the long-distance thing,” Gilbert supplied, walking near her now towards her house and she caught his subtle blush with a grin slowly forming on his lips, “Asking for a friend?”

Anne quickly turned towards the street and avoided his gaze, hoping she was effectively concealing her blushing from him, “Well aren’t you overconfident, Gilbert Blythe?” She teased, hiding the fact that butterflies had been fluttering in the pits of her stomach for a solid ten minutes (which she had tried to write off by blaming the twelve tacos now tormenting her insides), by offering him the most powerful grin she had the strength to deliver.

“Maybe,” he admitted, his bashfulness further ignited Anne’s fixation.

They fell into a comfortable silence, with only the sound of their feet hitting wet pavement as they hurriedly made their way out of the rain, this time Anne remained mindful of her bothersome stomach. Gilbert occasionally poked fun at her for her little taco eating exploit while she doubled over, grasping her pained tummy.

Anne was struck by how fragile human emotions can be and how malleable, how they could’ve gone from discussing such dark topics such as death and coming to grips with newfound identities—but they ended up still only being kids. Young adults who are complex and unpredictable within themselves and in relation to others. It is beautiful in its own spontaneity and Anne loved all of it.   

Before long, they arrived outside her house and Anne was left with something she wanted to say, but she could only marvel at Gilbert’s soft smile and how it caused her to completely miss how he was beginning to say goodbye.

“Anne?”

“I’m not straight either!” she confessed, feeling her cheeks turn fifty different shades of red, but she couldn’t rip her gaze away from him.

Gilbert is the first friend she has encountered who she has confirmed as non-heterosexual and she needed to get the weight off of her. Sure others might have their suspicions, like Diana for instance. Their friendship could sometimes take a…serious and sometimes uncomfortable turn, which sometimes alluded to the possibility of something more. But nothing ever came of it and they both seemed to be comfortable with that, especially since Diana never gave Anne the impression that she ever felt something more than strictly friendship. Anne had dismissed her feelings as just a random crush, but she often admired other girls and she knew she wasn’t just attracted to boys.

“I’m pretty sure I’m bisexual, but the jury is still out on that one,” she said, finding comfort in Gilbert’s understanding gaze.

“I completely get that feeling. You know, not being completely sure, but we’ll figure it out,” Gilbert winked at her, taking a few of her strand red hairs and flattening them back to the side of her head, not quite behind the ear.

Anne involuntarily shivered while he was doing so, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Yeah. Well I have to go now!” Anne rapidly, turned on her heel and took two steps at a time towards her front door, “Thanks for walking me, Gilbert…Goodnight!”

“I’ll text you later!” Gilbert called to her, wearing a toothy grin upon his lips and Anne wanted nothing more but to placate her unending nerves and the butterflies who now lived in her stomach and showed no signs of ever moving out.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, my Anne and Gilbert are both queer!   
> Let me know what you think in the comments :)

**Author's Note:**

> Phew, not my best, but it was fun to write at least and hopefully fun to read as well!  
> Please leave kudos and or a comment to let me know if you want me to continue.  
> Follow me on Tumblr @yesshirbert to leave prompts!


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